Conference play has so far been a battle of attrition for the Cincinnati Bearcats, but they have a chance to get ahead record-wise against Wichita State.
After having to twice rebound from conference losses early in the American Athletic Conference season, a Bearcats (12-5, 2-2 AAC) team that's back to .500 in the league will look to give itself some breathing room at Wichita State on Sunday.
The Shockers, 9-6 overall, are winless at 0-3 in the AAC after falling to heavyweights Memphis and Houston on Jan. 1 and Jan 8, respectively. They also became the latest victim of the Tulane Green Wave (7-7, 4-1 AAC) after blowing a 14-point halftime lead to Tulane in a 68-67 loss Wednesday.
After winning the AAC regular season title in 2020-21 and earning a surprise NCAA Tournament bid, WSU is in the basement of the league. It's one of three 0-3 teams in the AAC, and won't go quietly, but the expectations will be of UC in Sunday afternoon's matchup at Charles Koch Arena.
For the Bearcats' part, they'll enter Sunday's matinee on the strength of a 79-71 victory. Head coach Wes Miller's team saw a 20-point halftime lead shrink to five points in the closing minutes before his team turned up the defensive intensity to close the game out.
"I was really pleased in the last three, three-and-a-half minutes. I thought when we needed to, we buckled down and got stops," Miller said. "Flying around, getting deflections. Maybe had five deflections in the last four minutes of the game, and I think it shows that we're a good basketball team when we really defend, when all five guys are really engaged and trying to defend.
"You could see that we wanted to do that to win the game and close the game out. You could see that we wanted to do that in the first half."
More: Wes Miller, UC Bearcats take down East Carolina Pirates to rebound in the AAC
THE GAME Tipoff: 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at Charles Koch Arena
TV/Radio: ESPN/WLW-AM (700)
Series history: UC leads the series 25-13
SCOUTING REPORT Wichita State Shockers (9-6, 0-3 AAC)
Coach: Isaac Brown – second season as Shockers head coach (25-12 overall)
Offense: 68.3 ppg
Defense: 64.5 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Tyson Etienne (G, 6'2'', 15 ppg)
Craig Porter Jr. (G, 6'2'', 5.2 ppg)
Ricky Council IV (G, 6'6", 9.7 ppg)
Clarence Jackson (F, 6'7'', 5.3 ppg)
Joe Pleasant (F, 6'7", 3.1 ppg)
Cincinnati Coach: Wes Miller, first season (12-5, 2-2 American)
Offense: 71.2 ppg
Defense: 62.2 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
David DeJulius (G, 6’0", 12.6 ppg)
Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6’3”, 8.2 ppg)
John Newman III (G, 6’4”, 7.4 ppg)
Jeremiah Davenport (G, 6'7", 13.6 ppg)
Abdul Ado (F, 6’11”, 2.8 ppg)
PLAYERS TO WATCH Tyson Etienne
Against East Carolina, Cincinnati knew Vance Jackson had the potential to be a match-up problem and a big scorer for the Pirates. UC game planned for Jackson and he still went off for 35 points. Maybe Jackson just had one of those nights, proverbially speaking, but it also says something about UC that the switched up the players defending him, how they defended him and still couldn't get it right.
That brings us to another known commodity the Bearcats must endeavor to shut down – Wichita State's Tyson Etienne, their leading scorer (15 ppg) and a player that went for 20 in a letdown loss to Tulane. Can UC lock in on a known scoring threat and take him out of his game?
David DeJulius
For the first time in four games, Jeremiah Davenport isn't our player to watch. Davenport is carrying his share of the load for UC, and then some. Recently, he's scored 21 and 22 points against Memphis and East Carolina, respectively. There's a high degree of confidence Davenport will show up once again.
As for David DeJulius, he needs a bounce-back game, if only on the offensive end. He's as much of a volume shooter (196 field goal attempts – the most on the team) and scorer (12.6 ppg, second most for UC behind Davenport) as the Bearcats have. And yet DeJulius was notable for his lack of contribution against ECU as he went for just seven points on 3-for-10 shooting. He was also held scoreless in the second half, and that was a factor in the Pirates nearly storming back to steal the game late. DeJulius wants better for himself, and UC frankly needs better.
KEY TO THE GAME The Bearcats, as Miller said after the game, can't afford to switch off for even a little while.
"We can't ever turn that light switch off," Miller said after the ECU win. "It's just got to stay on all the time, and that's what I talked about with the guys in the locker room."
Letting off the energy and enthusiasm pedals isn't a new problem for UC. Against Tulane on Jan. 1, a slow start in the first half made the Bearcats comeback attempt a steep uphill climb that ultimately failed.
Against the Pirates, switching off nearly caused UC to squander a 20-point lead, and that could have dropped them to 1-3 in the league, which would have been far from reflective of how talented this team is (2-2 arguably isn't reflective of how good they are either).
So, get engaged before coming out of the tunnel and stay switched on until the final buzzer sounds in what should be a UC win against Wichita State.
